Noisy ‘restaurant’ upsets residents

Kensington residents in Roberts Avenue are not pleased about losing their sleep.

They claim a new restaurant in the area, Tribe Pub and Grill, is disturbing the peace. The ‘restaurant’ has only been open for few weeks but residents have had enough and want it closed down.

“The Adega restaurant [that was here] before never caused any problems for residents because the owner understood that the restaurant was situated in a residential area and you cannot make a noise in the early hours of the morning. The new restaurant is being run like a disco club,” said councillor Carlos Da Rocha.

Residents said the music was very loud on 19 November and went on until the early hours of Sunday morning. “When I got to the scene, I found Metro police and residents in their pyjamas ready to deal with the out-of-control crowd. They were drunk, talking and laughing, standing in the main road causing chaos. The Metro police did not issue any fines or arrest anyone,” alleged Da Rocha.

According to him, he received almost 15 calls from residents who claim the place is not a restaurant but a bar. He said “We entered the premises to check the liquor licence with Metro police.

“To my surprise, there were no signs that said the place sells food. We found a bar, dance floor and a DJ booth. We also discovered the new owner was operating under the previous owner’s Adega liquor licence.”

The Express spoke to the previous owner, Jorge Cruz, regarding the issue of his liquor licence being used to operate the Tribe Pub and Grill. “I sold the place six years ago to a couple. The licence should have been in their name, not mine. It is fraud[ulent] to operate a place with another person’s licence,” he said.

A case has been opened at Jeppe Police Station and visible policing commander, Colonel Lindiwe Magudulela is looking into the matter.

“We were not aware of the other issues but because we received a number of complaints, we will be dealing with the issue,” said Brigadier Thembekile Kubone.

“If there are liquor licence irregularities, we will take the licence and take it up with the liquor board and provisional office. If they are operating illegally the place will be closed down. The process will take time because we will have to investigate.”

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